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Ford earns all-conference honors at WDA

The Jamestown High School senior finished the WDA meet in Minot with a time of 17:48 to place 20th overall, giving the Blue Jays their first all-conference performer since 2009.

"He was fighting there for that last spot and he came through big-time," JHS coach Ken Gardner said. "He ran the race he's been running. Go out strong with the leaders and give it what he's got at the end. That was really good to see."

Gardner said Ford's made the kind of progression that coaches hope for, with the daily workouts and routines that often accompanies running.

"It's that gradual progression throughout the year," Gradner said. "It's kind of what we look for."

Ford's time wasn't enough to overcome the Blue Jays' youth, however, as they finished seventh out of seven teams with a score of 266.

Bismarck High, led by race winner Matt Gotta (16:09) won the meet with a 19. The Demons had five of the top six finishers.

Jamestown also finished seventh in the girls competition, scoring a 230. Maya Moltzen was the top finisher, taking 21st with a time of 16:22. She missed all-conference by three seconds and one spot.

"It was a great race for her," Gardner said. "She still ran a season-best time."

Teralyn Coombs was second among Jamestown finishers with a 17:21, good for 45th. Ligia Schulz (17:38) was 50th with Rachel Morin (17:43) coming in two spots behind her. Bailey Heinert's time of 18-flat placed her 62nd.

Jordan Jacob of Century won the race with a 14:12, pacing the Patriots to a team score of 37 and a region title.

The Blue Jays wrap up the regular season on Wednesday at a Fargo South meet at Rose Creek Golf Course. The state meet is scheduled for Oct. 26 in Valley City.

Hart was also part of the 200 medley relay that finished 10th (2:03.81) and the 400 freestyle relay that took ninth (4:10.09).

Paige Peterson finished outside the top 10 in the 50 and 100 free, but swam state qualifying marks in both. She was also part of the 200 freestyle relay and 200 medley relay.

LaMae Turk qualified in the 200 individual medley (2:31.72), while Camille Kawasaki (27.52) and Karlie Marler (27.89) both had marks good enough in the 50 freestyle. Morgan Mewes rounded out the qualifiers with 297.8 points in the diving competition.

Aarhus has been a sportswriter for the Jamestown Sun since May of 2012. Prior to that, he was the sports editor at the Minot Daily News and The Daily Republic in Mitchell, S.D. He also worked as a sports writer at The Dickinson Press. He was honored as North Dakota's Sportswriter of the Year for 2014.